Cardboard chairs

ABSTRACT

A CHAIR HAVING TWO PARTS EACH MADE OF CARDBOARD. THE FIRST PART FORMS BY MEANS OF A CYLINDRICAL SURFACE THE BACK, SIDES, AND A PORTION OF THE BASE? THE CURVE OF THE CYLINDRICAL SURFACE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE FORCES EXERTED BY A PERSON SITTING IN THE CHAIR. THE SECOND PART COMPLETES THE BASE STRUCTURE AND HAS A CYLINDRICAL SURFACE WHOSE CURVE IS SUBSTANTIALLY PERPENDICULAR TO THE FORCE EXERTED ON THE BASE BY A PERSON SITTING IN THE CHAIR.

y 1972 l. L. BRODY E AL 3,664,705

CARDBOARD CHAIRS F'iled June 18, 1969 FIG. 5

BRUCE SOLOMON moor WVENTORS IRWIN L. BRODY 3PM M A 7' TORNEV United States Patent Oifice 3,664,795 Patented May 23, 1972 3.664.705 CARDBOARD CHAIRS lrwin L. Brody and Bruce S. Brody, Franklin Township,

Somerset County, N..I., assignors to The Spencer- Mitchell Co., New Brunswick, NJ.

Filed June 18, 1969, Ser. No. 834,458 Int. Cl. A47c 1/12, /00, 7/00 US. Cl. 297-445 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a chair constructed of cardboard and more particularly to a very light weight, relatively inexpensive, decorative cardboard chair which is capable of supporting a person Weighing many times the weight of the chair.

'A chair made of cardboard is desirable from a number of standpoints. First, of course, the cardboard is relatively inexpensive compared to more conventional structural materials, and therefore it might be inferred that the chair itself would be relatively inexpensive. Second, since cardboard is light, a properly designed cardboard chair should also be light. Third, the cardboard is capable of being easily decorated. For example, it can be painted, colored with crayon, or a suitable decorative yet protective material may easily be glued to it.

The low cost, light weight, and ease of decoration make the idea of a childs cardboard chair especially attractive. The light weight, if attained, would enable even a small child to easily move such a chair from place to place as children are fond of doing. In addition, when moving such a chair the child need not fear damaging furniture since any contact between the cardboard chair and fine wooden furniture will not mar the finish of the wooden furniture. Further, the relatively low cost, if achieved, would enable parents to buy their children chairs tailored to the size of the child. Finally, a covering may be applied to the cardboard which will render the chair impervious to such things as crayons, paints and clays.

Heretofore there have been many attempts to build childrens chairs out of cardboard. So far as is known, all such chairs have employed a box-like structure beneath the seat and a similar box-like structure for the arms, sides and back. Finding that such chairs lacked sufiicient strength and durability, their designers introduced all manner of supporting members such as Wooden or metal rods, plates, etc. This not only increased the weight and cost of each chair but, in addition, it complicated the assembly of the chair. Since successful marketing of a cardboard chair requires that it be easily assembled by the retail purchaser in only a few minutes, these prior art chairs were largely unsuccessful. In addition, to hold cost to a minimum it is desirable to be able to ship the unassembled chair in a thin fiat box to reduce shipping costs, and such prior art chairs could not generally be so shipped.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to eliminate the need for wooden or metal rods and sup porting plates in a cardboard chair and to reduce the number of required parts so as to permit fast, easy assembly.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention a light-weight chair is constructed of two parts of cardboard. The first part forms by means of a cylindrical surface the back, sides, and a portion of the base; the arc of the curve of the cylindrical surface being substantially perpendicular to the forces exerted by a person sitting on the chair. The second part completes the base structure and has a cylindrical surface whose curve is substantially perpendicular to the force exerted on the base by a person sitting in the chair.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS This invention will be more fully comprehended from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows that part which forms the back, side and a portion of the base of a chair embodying this invention;

FIG. 2 shows an assembled chair which embodies this invention;

FIG. 3 shows that part which completes the base structure of a chair embodying this invention;

FIG. 4 shows a bottom view of the assembled base structure of a chair employing the parts shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and embodying this invention;

FIG. 5 shows an alternative part to that shown in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 6 shows a bottom view of the assembled base structure of a chair employing the parts shown in FIGS. 1 and 5 and embodying this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The first part 10 shown in FIG. 1 is one piece of cardboard whose thickness may be less than one-eighth inch. Lines 11, 12, 13, and 14, indicate lines on the surface of part 10 which have been scored so that the cardboard may be easily folded along these lines at a sharp angle without buckling the cardboard. For explanatory purposes only, part 10 may be considered as having five sections 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 though, of course, part 10 is in actuality a single piece of cardboard which may be cut to the shape shown by means of a die. Sections 17 and 19 are identical in size and shape and sections 20 and 21 are identical in size and shape. Small raised tabs 23 and 24- are present on sections 20 and 21, respectively, and a slot 26 is cut in the center of section 18 at the same height as scoring lines 13 and 14. In addition, four holes 30, 31, 32, 33 and 30, 31, 32 and 33 are cut in corresponding places on sections 17 and 19, respectively.

Assembly of the chair is begun by folding the cardboard along scoring lines 11, 12, 13 and 14. Then sections 17 and 19 are pulled together so that they overlap and sections and 21 overlap. Four bolts or fasteners are inserted through the overlapping holes in sections 17 and 19, without nuts or looking members being attached, and sections 20 and 21 are folded down with tabs 23 and 24 inserted through slot 26. The result is shown in FIG. 2. Center section 18 has, as a result of sections 17 and 19 being pulled together to overlap, become a cylindrical surface forming the back, sides and a portion of the base of the chair, and sections 17 and 19 have formed the front portion of the base. The seat has been formed by overlapping sections 20 and 21.

In accordance with this invention the back and sides of the resulting chair are cylindrical structures. Most importantly, the normal forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair are vertical downward forces and are exerted perpendicularly to the direction to the directrix, or curve of the cylindrical surface. (The definitions of the terms cylindrical surface and directrix are found on page 185 of Mason and Hazard, Brief Analytic Geometry, 2nd edition, published by Ginn and Company.) It has been found that cardboard bent to form such a surface is able to support much heavier weights or forces perpendicular to its curve than cardboard which does not have such a cylindrical surface.

In accordance with this invention the base of the chair is completed by means of a second part of cardboard which also has a cylindrical surface perpendicular to the normal vertical downward forces exerted by a person siting in the chair. A second such part is shown in FIG. 3. It is one piece of cardboard 40 which may have three scoring lines 41, 42 and 43 drawn across it to permit the cardboard to be bent more easily on these lines. For explanatory purposes only, single piece 40 may be considered to consist of four sections 46, 47, 48 and 49 where section 46 is the same size as sections 17 and 19 of part 10 shown in FIG. 2 and has four corresponding holes 31", 32 and 33" cut therein. Sections 47 and 49 are approximately three-quarters the width of section 46 and section 48 is approximately 85 percent of the width of section 46.

To complete the assembly of the chair piece is bent along the scoring lines and inserted in the base of the chair with the bolts or fasteners extending through the holes in sections 17 and 19 caused to extend through the corresponding holes in section 46. Nuts or fasteners are attached to hold sections 17, 1 9 and 46 together. The result is shown in FIG. 4 which is a bottom view of the assembled chair. Section 48 has formed a cylindrical surface by virtue of the relative dimensions of the sections 46, 47, 48 and 49 and is located to the rear of the seat. Thus, in accordance with this invention section 48 together with sections 46, 47 and 49 greatly increase the weight carrying capacity of the chair, since section 48 is a cylindrical surface whose curve is perpendicular to the normal downward vertical forces exerted by a person sitting on the chair.

The chair embodying this invention shown in a three dimension view in FIG. 2 and in a bottom view in FIG. 4 is strong and durable, very light in weight, and relatively inexpensive to manufacture. -In addition, it may be made very attractive and durable by gluing a vinyl material covering, which is available in a variety of patterns and colors, to those sections of part 10 which are on the outside of the assembled chair. To further enhance the durability of the attractiveness of the chair binding or edging may be applied to all the edges of the piece 10 to prevent raveling. All these features make the chair particularly attractive as a childs chair.

To further increase the weight carrying capacity of the chair, in accordance with this invention, a larger number of cylindrical surfaces may be provided in the second piece, that is, the piece which completes the base structure. Such a second supporting piece is shown in FIG. 5. It is one piece of cardboard 60 which may have four scoring lines 61, 62, 63 and 64 across it to permit the cardboard to be bent or folded more easily at such lines. For explanatory purposes only, single piece 60 may be considered to consist of five sections 66, 67, 68, 69 and 70. Section 66 is the same size as sections 17 and 19 of part 10 shown in FIG. 1 and has four correspond ing holes 30', 31", 32" and 3 cut therein. Sections 67 and 68 are approximately 10 percent wider than section 66 whereas section 69 is about percent the width of section 66 and section 70 is about 40 percent of the width.

When folded and placed in the base structure and secured by the bolts and nuts to sections 17 and 19, sections 67, 68, 69 and 70 are forced to curve in order to fit within the confines of the base structure formed by part 10. As illustrated in the bottom view of the assembled chair shown in FIG. 6, the result is that sections 67, 68, 69 and 70 form portions of cylindrical surfaces.

The vertical downward forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair are perpendicular to the direction of the directrix or curve of the cylindrical surface, so that each such surface is better able to withstand such forces. The multiplicity of such cylindrical surfaces in the base portion of the chair greatly increases the strength and durability of a chair embodying this invention.

Thus, in accordance with this invention strong, light weight, decorative, relatively inexpensive cardboard chairs may be manufactured. The strength and durability of these chairs is attested to by the fact that a chair using the second part shown in FIG. 3 wherein the parts 10 and 40 are of carboard approximately in thickness easily supports an 80 pound child. A chair embodying this invention using part 60 shown in FIG. 5 and made of cardboard approximately in thickness can support a pound man standing on the seat for short periods of time.

It is to be understood that the above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the application of the principles of the invention. Numerous other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A chair comprising, in combination, a first part of cardboard having a back, rear base, and sides, each having a cylindrical surface whose directrix is substantially perpendicular to the vertical downward forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair, and a flat section forming the front of the base, a second cardboard part having a flat section corresponding to and aflixed to the fiat section of said first part by fasteners, said second cardboard part also having two fiat sections in addition to the flat section corresponding to the flat section of said first part, and said second cardboard part also having a section having a cylindrical surface, said additional two flat sections of said second cardboard part being adjacent the sides of said chair, and said section of said second part having a cylindrical surface touching the rear of said chair at two places, said cylindrical surface of said second cardboard part having a directrix substantially perpendicular to the vertical downward forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair, and said second part being inside the area bounded by the fiat section of said first part and the sides and rear of said first part.

2. A chair comprising, in combination, a first part of cardboard having a back, rear base and sides, each having a cylindrical surface, Whose directrix is substantially perpendicular to the vertical downward forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair and a fiat section forming the front of the base, and a second cardboard part having five sections, the first such section being flat and corresponding to and aflixed to the fiat section of said first part by means of fasteners, said four additional sections of said second part each forming a cylindrical surface, each of said cylindrical surfaces having a directrix substantially perpendicular to the vertical downward forces exerted by a person sitting in the chair, said second part being inside the area bounded by the fiat section of the first part and 5 the sides and rear of the first part, with the ends of said 3,463,546 cylindrical surfaces of said second part touching the sides 2,693,227 and rear of said chair.

References Cited 5 652,837 UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,395,836 2,100,979 11/1930 Rowe 297-4s7 X 535,810 2,546,811 3/1951 Anderson 297440 X 2,822,860 2/ 1958 Calabrese 297-447 UX 6 8/1969 Giebel 297440 11/ 1954 Holland 297193 FOREIGN PATENTS 3/ 1929 France 297445 3/ 1965 France 297442 1/1957 Canada 108-58 PAUL R. GILLIAM, Primary Examiner 

